Knowledge Base

Restore, Factory Reset or Reinstall Windows 7 on your Dell Computer.

When your Operating System stops working correctly, there are ways to get it working again. Select whether Windows 7 starts correctly or not on your computer, for information on how to resolve your issue.

Dell recommends backing up your files and data to an external hard drive, DVDs, CDs or other removable storage media on a regular bases. For more information on how to backup and restore your data, refer to Microsoft Knowledge Base article Back up and restore your PC.

Open the Control Panel by clicking Start, and then clicking Control Panel.

Click System and Security, and then click System.

Under the Control Panel Home menu, touch or click System protection.

Note: The User Account Control window may appear, if so, click Yes.

Click System Restore.

Recommended Restore is the default choice. This restore point is the most recent, and is the best place to start.

To choose a different restore point, click Choose a different restore point, click Next and then click a restore point.

Click Next, and then click Finish to confirm your restore point.

To start the restore process, click Yes.

Once the system restore is complete, your computer will restart.

Notes:

When the most recent restore point doesn’t resolve the issue or fails, select the next older restore point.

When no restore point resolves the issues, all of them fail or none are listed, refer to the Using the built-in Dell Factory Image Restore partition tab in the Windows 7 Does Not Start Correctly or at All section, as other actions are needed.

When Windows 7 does not start correctly or not at all, there are three options to restore the Operating System on your computer to fix computer issues such as infections, corruption, crashes or to clear your personal information from the computer. They are, from left most tab to right most tab, easiest to hardest.

Note: When you have replaced your Hard Drive, please refer to the Manually reinstall the Windows 7 Operating System tab for instructions.

As your computer restarts, tap the F8 key once a second the before the Dell logo appears to open the Advanced Boot Options menu.

Note: When the Advanced Boot Options menu does not appear, restart your computer after the Windows logon prompt appears, and try again. When the Advanced Boot Options cannot be accessed after several tries, proceed to the Manually reinstall the Windows 7 Operating System tab as your Operating System may be too corrupted to use this process.

Use the Arrow keys to select Repair Your Computer, and then press Enter.

Select your language settings, and click Next.

Log on as an administrator, and click OK.

Click System Restore, and then click Next.

The most recent restore point is the default choice and is the best place to start.

To choose a different restore point, click the Show more restore points check box, and then click a restore point.

Click Next, and then click Finish to confirm your restore point.

To start the restore process, click Yes.

Once the system restore is complete, click Restart to restart your computer.

Notes:

When the most recent restore point doesn’t resolve the issue or fails, select the next older restore point.

When no restore point resolves the issues, all of them fails or none are listed, refer to the Using the built-in Dell Factory Image Restore partition tab as other actions are needed.

Follow these instructions to reinstall the Operating System using the Dell Factory Image Restore partition, to a state that came on your computer, from the factory.

Notes:

This process only sets the C: drive back to factory settings and leaves the other partitions alone.

Warning: Restoring your computer to the factory settings will remove all files and programs except those it came with. You will lose all personal files, including photos, emails and programs when you do not back up your files and data.

Disconnect everything but the monitor, keyboard and mouse. This includes your:

scanner

printer

modem or network cables

mobile phone and tablet

USB flash drive or other external hard drive

Note: Remove the computer from the docking station when you are using one.

Turn your computer on.

As your computer restarts, tap the F8 key once a second the before the Dell logo appears to open the Advanced Boot Options menu.

Note: When the Advanced Boot Options menu does not appear, turn the computer off and try again (you may need to hold the power button down for 15 seconds for the computer to turn off). When the Advanced Boot Options cannot be accessed after several tries, proceed to the Manually reinstall the Windows 7 Operating System tab as your Operating System may be too corrupted to use this process

Use the Arrow keys to select Repair Your Computer and then press Enter.

On the System Recovery Options menu, select a keyboard layout and click Next.

On the next screen you can log in as a local user or the Administrator.

Note: Use the drop down menu to the right of User name: to select the local user or the Administrator account and enter the password for that account. If you have not set up a password on the local user account leave the password space empty and click OK.

Depending on your configuration, you may need to select Dell Factory Tools and then Dell Factory Image Restore.

When your computer has more than one hard drive and a RAID configuration setup, refer to the user guide or manual for your computer for information about the type of RAID configuration your computer supports. You will find instructions on how to configure it for reinstallation.

Dell recommends backing up your files and data to an external hard drive, DVDs, CDs or other removable storage media on a regular bases. For more information on how to backup your data, refer to Microsoft Knowledge Base article Back up and restore your PC.

To run the installation disc, insert the Windows installation disc into the DVD drive.

Restart your computer.

When the Press any key to boot from the CD or DVD message appears, press any key to continue.

If the disc does not begin to run, press your computer's Power button and watch for the Dell logo to appear. When the logo appears, press the F12 key to load the Boot menu. If this menu does not appear, try restarting your computer again and pressing F12 several times when the Dell logo appears. Once the Boot menu opens, select CD/DVD drive (listed also as CD-Rom or CD/DVD/CD-RW) and press Enter.

When Windows 7 Setup appears, confirm that the Language, Time, Currency and Keyboard Method fields display the correct settings.

On the Windows 7 Installation dialog box, click Install Now.

Review the license agreement, and click I accept the license terms.

On the Which type of installation do you want? window, click Custom (advanced).

On the Where do you want to install Windows window, select the largest internal disc as the Primary Partition, then click Next. If the Primary Partition shows 0GB free, select Unallocated Space and click Next.

Your computer will restart.

Personalize and customize your Windows 7 operating system by following the instructions on the following screens.

To reinstall your applications, insert the application installation disk(s) for each program in the CD/DVD drive and follow the prompts or re-install each program from the manufacturer's website if that option is available to you.

For each external or internal devise you added to your computer after purchasing from Dell, refer to the documentation that came with the device for reinstallation instructions. Some devices require you to install the associated software before connecting the device to your computer.